Back to the Blog!!

 Hello!  This year my school system is moving our teacher websites to Google Sites, so I thought I would come back to the blog and just use it again for book recommendations and reviews.  I clicked through the old entries this morning, and wow!  So much fantastic reading.  And I haven't stopped!  Just stopped blogging.  So...I'm going to come back to this site and get back to it!  Later this week, look out for a few Summer Reading posts.  I've got some recent favorites that I MUST recommend for summer, and I am  going to share my summer reading plans as well!!  Happy Reading!  and Happy Summer!!

Internment by Samira Ahmed

I loved Ahmed's Love, Hate and Other Filters.  I heard about this new book over the summer and have had it on my To Read list for a long time.  Ahmed wastes no time jumping straight into the conflict in this warning novel.  After one brief moment with her boyfriend, Layla Amin's world forever changes when officers show up at her house.  A police officer from her own town closes Layla and her parents into his patrol car, and the nightmare begins.  The Amins along with other Muslims are processed and transferred to an internment camp.  

Once the shock starts to wear off, Layla and a few other young people begin thinking about how they can stand up to the powers who are keeping him there.  Unfortunately, it's not that hard for Ahmed or any of us readers to imagine what internment of a group of people looks like, because history provides us too many instances of when a nation has turned against its own citizens in the name of "safety" or "security."  However, what Ahmed's book does is bring this idea to 2019.  To now.  And what makes this book so painful is that even though you know it's not real, it sadly, seems like it could be.  When we look around at events and attitudes in our government and nation, it sickens me to think that a book like this even needs to exist. 

But it does.  Ahmed takes history and adds technology and more surveillance.  It's telling that the first thing the Exclusion Authority officers do is take the Amins' phones.  Social media and journalism play an important role in the story and to Layla's resistance.  At the very beginning, the reader, along with the internees, are cautious as they figure out what exactly is going on.  I knew what was coming because I knew what this book was about.  But Ahmed moves forward quickly, and every chapter adds more complications to the prisoners' plight and raises the stakes for these American citizens whose rights have been stripped away. 

This book is important not only because of its portrayal of the internment of citizens, but mainly because of how it reminds us that we are ALL an important part of the resistance.  Layla does not sit still and just let things happen to her.  Others support her and do what they can to help her voice be heard.  But they do what she needs.  They don't talk over her.  They support her.  They do what she asks.  That's an important message for allies.  It's about supporting people who need your help.  Shut your mouth and amplify the stories of others.  Let your actions speak louder than your words.  Be there.  Show up.  

I taught about Chinese Exclusion last year, and I've wanted to teach When the Emperor Was Divine  for a while now.  I think this book is important, and I am going to get as many copies as I can into my classroom and into my book club rotations.  I know it will inspire important conversations.  I thank Ms. Ahmed for this story and for her voice.  

All the books from the end of summer and the start of the school year!!

I got so busy with the beginning of the school year, that I haven't had a chance to really share all the books that ended my summer reading and started my school year.  Since it's a big list, I am just going to share a little bit about each one, but it'll hopefully be enough for you to maybe see if you might be interested in these titles.

The first is Where All Light Tends to Go by David Joy, who's from right here in WNC.  This is a novel for adults, not YA, but the protagonist is a young man from WNC, Jacob McNeely whose father runs a meth ring and has many people in the area involved in his business.  Jacob dropped out of school and struggles with working for his dad or imagining something different for his life.  He reconnects with an old girlfriend and considers his options.  This book is rough.  It's hard to read at times, but it's a gripping look into what happens when there doesn't seem like a way out.  I don't recommend this book to all, but I do think that some kids would be interested to see what happens to Jacob and could identify with the feeling of being stuck and not knowing what choice to make.  I want to read Joy's other two novels.  This one was suspenseful, heartbreaking, and honest.

OMG.  This book is now on my top 10 YA books of all time list.  For real.  I got it last semester and never got around to it, but brought it home for summer, and I am so glad I did.  It takes place in a small town in Tennessee where three best friends are sort of outsiders in their school.  Dill and his mother have nothing and struggle to make ends meet.  They both work and do their best ever since Dill's father, a Pentecostal preacher, got arrested and put in jail for a crime.  Dill's friends are still there for him, though, which is good.  Lydia, his friend forever, lives in a much better home.  Her mom is a dentist in town, and she runs a really popular fashion blog that is nation-wide famous.  She posts about the best thrift shops and styles.  She's hoping to go to college in New York.  And then, there's Travis.  Travis is a big ole boy who works after school at his father's lumber yard.  His brother was killed in the military.  Travis wears all black all the time and an amazing dragon necklace.  He also carries a staff and is obsessed with his favorite fantasy series and its author.  These three don't exactly make sense as BFFs, but they are perfect.  As they start senior year, they all have to think about what their futures hold.  Dill also had to decide if he wants to change his relationship with Lydia by letting her know how he truly feels about her.  As Lydia applies to college and Dill doesn't, their friendship undergoes some strain, and all three of their stories develop throughout the novel as they try to be who they really are in a community that doesn't always understand them.  I cried at the end of this book, but loved every. single. second.  It's a must read.

Oh, goodness, you need to read this series if you like dystopian, sci-fi-ish, futuristic series.  I won't tell too much about the second book, but I'll give you a set up of the series in general.  I will say I have read both of these and loved them.  I can't wait til the third book comes out in 2019.

Scythe takes place in our world in the future, but unlike so many dystopian series, this is actually a utopia!  One day "the cloud" actually becomes a sentient being.  Along with all the medical and technological advances, the cloud, now the Thunderhead, can take care of everyone, everywhere all the time.  No more disease.  Everyone gets a guaranteed income.  If you do die, you just go to a revival center for a few days and they will get you back in shape as fast as they can.  No hunger, no war, no problems.  Once you age as far as you like, you can simply reset and be young again and do it all over again.  Everything is perfect.  The Thunderhead watches and takes care of everything.  However, since there is no natural death, humankind had to come up with a way to control the population and manage death.  Enter the Scythedom.  Scythes take care of the business of death by "gleaning" people.  They have a strict set of rules.  Scythes are trained rigorously and apprentice under an experienced scythe.  Citra and Rowan are both selected to train as Scythes, but what they learn is really hard.  There are different factions of Scythes starting to emerge.  Some scythes glean with honor, dignity, respect, and kindness, while others have very different ideas of what gleaning should be like.  That's enough to get you started.  I loved this series.  It gave me lots to think about as I compared the future to our current world.  It's new, intriguing, and action-packed.  I highly recommend this series.

A wonderful book that all middle and high school students should read.  The book follows three refugee children on their individual journeys to another land.  Their stories are incredible, and all three stories come together in tear-jerking conclusion.  Josef is escaping Nazi Germany.  His father was in a concentration camp, but then they were all reunited a board a ship to seek asylum in Cuba.  Isabel is a young girl from Cuba whose family boards a small boat to reach Miami.  And Mahmoud is a young boy from Syria who, along with his family, wants to escape his war-torn country and just get somewhere safe, like Germany.  As you read this book, you get specific, real details about the individual lives of these three children, but you also learn about the time period and the historical conflicts that cause these kids to need to leave their countries for safety, freedom, and opportunity.  The book alternates chapters which helps kids stay tuned in.  Each story builds chapter by chapter, and the conclusion is perfect.  I think this is a good book for younger kids.  It teaches so much about refugees and forces us to ask ourselves important questions about how our country chooses to help or not help those who need it.  I think it's a good entry book for high school readers, too, because it ties the current refugee crisis to historical topics they might have studied already, so they have a little background.  Pick it up, people.  It's an important one.

Man, this book was really hard to read because of the subject matter.  Inspired by the missing D. C. girls news stories, it's the story of Claudia whose friend Monday doesn't come back to school after summer break.  When Claudia confronts Monday's family members, she's shut out and given no information or conflicted stories at best.  She tells school officials but people just keep passing it off to someone else, and no one seems as concerned as Claudia.  Claudia still goes to school and, sadly, struggles.  Without her best friend, she's sad and lost.  She continues her life, but feels hurt and doesn't understand why her friend won't contact her.  She never gives up, though, on figuring out where Monday is, and she does find out by the end of the book.  It's a crazy read.  Claudia's struggles will make sense to many kids as she navigates high school, church, parties, friends, and love.  But what really blows you away is the ending.  It'll stick with you for a while.  A rough topic, but a good read.

Another book inspired by current events, Ghost Boys is about a young man named Jerome who is ready to start back to school.  His neighborhood is pretty rough.  His parents work hard, and his grandmother keeps the family together and teaches him to try to see the positive things in his world everyday.  Near his home one afternoon, Jerome gets shot by a police officer and dies.  His story becomes news.  But for Jerome, what happens on earth, court proceedings, the charges, none of it matters.  He's dead.  He still wanders around as a ghost boy and meets another ghost boy also from Chicago who was killed many years ago, Emmett Till.  Emmett helps Jerome navigate his new existence.  Can people feel, sense, or see him?  He has to figure out how long he will be this way and why he's still here with the other ghost boys.  This book was hard to read, but really showed yet another perspective on the tragedy we see in this country of young black men dying at the hands of those in power more than others.  We must end this violence on young people of color, and Rhodes' book is another important voice, along with Angie Thomas, Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely, Nic Stone, and others who give voice to the voiceless through their powerful and important novels.  Another good entry book to the topic.  It's shorter than The Hate You Give and might be a quicker read for readers who might not want to or be able to dedicate as much time to that novel.  Highly recommend to middle grade readers also, who might not be ready for a more YA take on the topic.

Well, we will end here on a much happier not with To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han.  I didn't read her Summer I Turned Pretty Series years ago, but picked this up when I heard all the rave reviews about the Netflix movie that just came out.  Well, the book was GREAT!  Like Stephanie Perkins and Becky Albertalli, Jenny Han takes me back to the days of crushes and kisses and parties and fun.  Lara Jean writes goodbye letters to all the boys she's loved before and stores them in a hatbox her mother gave her years ago.  They are really just for her, to help her get over her crushes, most of whom don't even know that she likes them at all.  But it's good because she makes her peace with the crush and moves on.  Until...her letters get sent out in the mail and received by the boys.  Her sister Margot has left for college; her mom's been dead for years; and Lara Jean doesn't really know where it all stands as she, her dad, and little sister, Kitty, take on new roles in Margot's absence.  I loved Lara Jean's voice and style.  She reacted as I totally would have when she found out the letters went out, which is to say, she freaks completely.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but can't wait, AND I will be ordering the other two books ASAP so I can follow the rest of Lara Jean's story.  Keep in mind I've only read the first book, so right now I am totally #teampeterkavinsky.  We'll see if it stays that way when I get my hands on book #2.  A sweet, romantic, fun read and a wonderful Asian American main character who rocks it as she starts figuring out who she really is and wants to be.

Whew!!  That was a lot!  I am enjoying reading with my students and sharing great books with them.  When kids say, "Wow!  That was super good!"  I just smile and jump around a little.  There's so much amazing YA out there!  I also read Captain Underpants #5 with my daughter and did a reread of Harry Potter 3.  Right now, I think I am going to try to read all the rest of the Throne of Glass series since the final book Kingdom of Ash comes out next month.  I will make time for What If It's Us, though, also by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera.  I'm sure I'll read that one in a just a day or two.  So it's off to Rifthold for now for me.  Hope maybe one of these books sounds good to you!

Love, Hate, and Other Filters

Maya is an Indian Muslim teen who lives in suburban Chicago.  She's a senior who's applied to colleges and is ready to start the next chapter of her life.  But her vision of that future is different from what her parents want. 

Maya, who loves film, and never goes anywhere with out her camera, dreams of going to NYU to study film, but she knows her parents won't have it.  She's been accepted but hasn't told them yet.  And right now, she wants to just work at the bookstore and spend time with Phil, the boy she's crushed on since middle school.  Phil and Maya end up spending time together over spring break, and this new friendship is something Maya never imagined would finally happen at this point senior year. 

Maya's parents, however, would love for her to stay closer to home for college and to date and eventually marry a Muslim boy from a good family and background. 

Then, a horrible tragedy occurs and Maya's plans are turned upside down.  This book was incredible.  Each chapter begins with some small snippets from another plot line, and Maya narrates the chapters.  She's a smart, strong young woman dealing with a lot, when the tragedy adds even more to her plate.  This book shows readers what Maya as a young Muslim teen in a less diverse community has to deal with on a daily basis.  Maya's struggles with her parents highlight the tensions that come when the new generation wants something different.  This book shows readers how Maya deals with her normal life but how she has to deal with so much more because of some people's hatred for her religion.  Ahmed's book is incredible and I am also very interested in her next book, out March 2019, called Internment.  

Royals

Well, friends, I will admit that we did watch the Royal Wedding this summer.  Harry and Meghan are awesome.  I loved the wedding and the American preacher and all the celebration.  Sorry, but it's cool and fun and yay love!!

If you liked the royal wedding, too, then you will like this quick, fun read by Rachel Hawkins.  I have read some really heavy stuff this summer, and so I was excited to read a more fun, lighthearted book.

Daisy Winters works the Sur-N-Sav and is trying to enjoy her summer, but that's pretty hard when her ex-boyfriend has ruined it by selling their prom pics to the paparazzi.  And life is just different for Daisy because for the last few years, her older sister Eleanor has been dating the Crown Prince of Scotland.  If dating the prince caused enough trouble, there's even more when Daisy finds out her sister and the prince are now engaged.  Daisy ends up spending time in Scotland and learns a lot about her sister, herself, and the wild royal world. 

Daisy does her best to navigate the royal events as best she can.  But Sebastian, the other wild prince, makes that hard because he and his buddies, the Royal Wreckers as they are called by the tabloids, always keep things stirred up.  Except for Miles, who keeps a lower profile and tries to help Daisy out when he can. 

I enjoyed this book a lot.  It was fun and all the characters kept me entertained.  I like books that allow you to travel to new places, and this one does that.  Though it's completely fictional and a very American view of Royal life, it's still very entertaining and fun. 

Seven Ways We Lie

This is an excited post for me because I KNOW Riley Redgate.  I had the honor of teaching R. in high school, and remember what an amazing reader and writer she was.  A super cool human!  Anyway, I only recently found these books and was excited to get in touch with her and to get started reading all three books!  I am reading her books in pub order and so I first started with Seven Ways We Lie.

The book has seven main characters who all represent one of the seven deadly sins.  Great concept, but the cool thing for me is that it doesn't run the book.  Each character was unique and different.  I saw differences in their voices and liked each of their perspectives, and most of all how Redgate brings all the stories together.

At the beginning of the book, the principal calls an assembly to discuss an issue with the student body:  someone turned in an anonymous tip that a teacher is having a relationship with a student.  Of course the entire school is talking about it, and everyone looks around now wondering who it is?  Which teacher would anyone even want to hook up with and which teacher would be crazy enough to start something with a student.

The book covers all aspects of high school: arts, sports, lunch time, teachers, families, drugs/alcohol/parties, love, coming out, friendships, needing to run out of class and sit in a bathroom stall for a few minutes, and of course, the seven deadly sins.  Each chapter, I was interested to see how the stories came together and how the characters changed.  I loved it!!

I really liked the book and am so happy and proud of R.'s accomplishments.  I can't wait to fangirl in a signing line someday if I am lucky enough to run back into her at a book festival (Yallfest?) or bookstore someday.  I also want to say to the kids out there who write, that Redgate is proof that you can do it.  I'm super pumped to now follow the career of an incredible author.

Be True to Me

Kids!!  I read story set on Fire Island while I was at the beach in SC and it was amazing.  It's been on my To Read list since last summer, when my favorite blogger Jen Hubert at Reading Rants recommended it!  I knew I wanted to wait until summer to read it, so I kept it until this summer.

It is GREAT!  I recently watched Thoroughbreds...and though this book is no where near the same...The movie is a crazy murder movie and the book is about summer romance and a love triangle...the vibe is still the same...sort of.  Anyway, strange comparison aside.  This is a compelling read.

First, I love the setting.  Fire Island, NY in 1976, during the Bicentennial.  I found it incredible refreshing to travel to the seventies.  I loved the details Griffin included about music, politics, culture, and style.  Most, I really liked being in the 70s where there are NO CELL PHONES!!  I don't know...maybe it's silly but I even enjoyed a break from phones while reading.

The good thing is that the setting, while cool, isn't what really drives the novel.  It's the two different perspectives of the two main characters, Jean and Fritz.  Jean is from a wealthy family who summers in Sunken Haven every year.  She always lives in the shadow of her beautiful and perfect sister, Daphne.  This year, however, Jean is excited because Daphne will be in Europe and out of the way.  Jean can have her own summer.  One that she would like to spend with Gil Burke, who she met in the city before heading out to the island.  Gil and Jean shared an amazing New York night together, so she is ready to find him and share an even more amazing summer with him in Sunken Haven.

But, Gil sees Fritz O'Neill when he first arrives.  Fritz, who is a military kid, isn't from the same background as the old wealthy families, but she comes each summer to be with her friend who summers there, too.  Fritz is wild and cool and unlike any of the other girls.

Gil is stuck between Jean and Fritz, who both want and love him.  The book is set in three acts that build to an epic conclusion.  I loved this book because it was romance and thrilling.  The book deals with crushes and first love and first times.  The setting and characters are complex and engaging.  Each person has their own background that really affects how they feel about an interact with the others.  I feel for all of them, even when they are at their worse.  Loved it and excited to read Griffin's new books Tell Me No Lies soon.